ORLANDO, FL : Teen recalls hit-and-run crash that left friend in critical condition on Tuesday, February 14th 2017

A girl is in critical but stable condition after she was hit by a car on Dean Road on Tuesday afternoon, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

The driver, now identified as 19-year-old Travis Johnson, fled into some nearby woods before an Orange County Sheriff's Office K-9 unit apprehended him, troopers said. The car and the license plate had been reported stolen. Johnson claims he bought the 2001 Ford Explorer for $300. The teen had active warrants out for his arrest and will face multiple charges in connection with Tuesday's incident, officials said.

Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Kim Montes said officials believe Johnson was trying to pass another vehicle when he steered onto the sidewalk and hit a girl who was walking home from school.

A boy she was with, Jackson Wells, was also grazed, but not seriously injured, Montes said.

"This could have been much more serious and we could have had two fatalities here if this had turned a different way," Montes said.

The girl has regained consciousness and is being treated at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.

"When the car came, all I was thinking was, 'Oh my God. I'm gonna die if I don't do something,'" said Jackson, who is 15. "And then I saw my friend get swept up and I was like, 'Oh no.'"

Jackson said he was on the sidewalk with his best friend, walking home from school when he heard the sound of screeching tires behind him.

"I hear the swerving, I turn around to see what it is, and he's just coming straight at me," Jackson said.

He moved out of the way, although he scraped his knee. But Jackson said his friend didn't have time to react.

"The car hit the sidewalk, flipped over and hit my friend Jocelyn and my bike," Jackson said. "I saw her (and) she wasn't moving at first. I thought she died."

Jackson said that's when he called his mother.
?
"He said, 'Mom, Mom, you have to come get my -- Mom, my friend -- she's hurt really bad,'" said Viva Desensi, Jackson’s mother. "... I'm very angry. Why, why, why would he run like that? Why did you run from that little girl? Why did you run from her? You saw her lying there, bleeding. Why would you do that?”

Johnson is being held at the Orange County Jail.

Source :
Teen recalls hit-and-run crash that left friend in critical condition